


In Other Words, Hold My Hand

by LadyRosa



Series: A Rockstar and a Cellist [2]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Orchestra, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Cellist!Stephen Strange, Dancing, Domestic Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Rock Star!Tony Stark, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, not beta-ed because this is actually a surprise for her haha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:01:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21883408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyRosa/pseuds/LadyRosa
Summary: A short story that happens five years after the events of Worlds Apart, where Tony has an important question to ask Stephen.
Relationships: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Series: A Rockstar and a Cellist [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1576420
Comments: 2
Kudos: 61





	In Other Words, Hold My Hand

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Foxglove_Fiction](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxglove_Fiction/gifts).



> This might not be the update that you guys were looking for but.. *awkwardly offers this fic* If you guys have not read the first part yet, go check it out first!
> 
> But if you did, onwards to the second part!

_Lights flashing._

_The swell of the music, the excitement of the crowd._

_The people singing along with him in the audience._

_Sweat beading on his forehead, trickling down his back and causing his last costume for the concert to stick to his skin._

_The sound of a guitar, bass, drums playing behind him._

**_It’s the fresh breath of air that Anthony Edward Stark has always yearned for._ **

Singing the final song for the night, the adrenaline coursing through his veins as he moves from one side of the stage to the other with the beat of the song and dances like a kid on stage, coming to a stop just in time as the song ends. 

"Thank you, everyone and goodnight!" He shouts into the mic as the audience screams their reply and the stage goes dark. 

He, along with his bandmates, retreat backstage at the sound of their fans' clapping and shouting and he hands his microphone to one of the staff, shedding his stylish jacket and draping it over his arm as he runs his fingers through his hair, trying to brush the glitter off and messing up his gelled locks. 

Checking the time, he hurriedly goes to his dressing room and tossing on a leather jacket on top of his attire, straightening it on his body and making sure that he has his wallet, phone and the little box that he always keeps in his pocket, grabbing the small bouquet of blue roses that he makes sure to keep intact on the vanity before leaving his room immediately, bumping into his bandmates, who are still in their concert attire.

Natasha, seeing the bouquet in his hand, smiles warmly at him. "Off to see your beau, Tony?"

Knowing that he has a small window to get to, Tony is already taking off towards the door, saluting them playfully.

"I have a date!" Tony shouts to them and Thor chortles loudly. 

"Have fun!" Steve shouts back, waving at him like Thor's exclaim of 'Use protection!' and the following 'Ow!' after the long-haired blond receives a warning hit from Natasha. 

Making his way through the backstage and out of the staff exit is a routine that Tony makes after a majority of his concerts and something that excites him more since he starts doing it. Especially since his reward for doing so is seeing his lovely cellist. 

Tony hops onto his sleek black motorcycle, petting it affectionately before fishing out his phone when a short vibrate from it catches his attention. He grins at the short message of ' _See you soon_ ' from his lover and fires off a reply to him before tucking his phone back in his pocket safely and grabbing his helmet hanging between the handles, securing it around his head before switching the engine on and driving towards his destination.

It has been a good five years since that fateful day of him revealing his face to the world and Tony couldn't hope for a better life. Living his rockstar life out and proud with no more sign of his father’s shadow looming over him. 

He is free to do whatever he wants now and he gets to go home and love the man of his dreams. There have been trials, of course. The threats, the accident that almost separated him from his beloved forever. But in the end, their love grows stronger every day and Tony's heart is full of never-ending adoration and affection for the love of his life. 

He turns the final corner with ease, seeing his destination at the end of the street and quickly parks his motorcycle in the lot next to the restaurant, securing it before taking off his helmet and placing it once again against the handles. He takes the bouquet in his hand, sighing in relief that he manages to prevent it from being crushed. 

Running his hand through his hair to remove any sign of flatness, Tony makes his way to the entrance of the restaurant, where the host, clearly recognizing him due to his frequent visits in this place in the past years, smiles at him before gesturing for him to go inside... 

“The usual place, Mister Strange.” The host’s eyes glints in amusement and Tony rolls his eyes in mock annoyance, ignoring the fast beating of his heart at the man’s light teasing. 

“Haha,” He tells him, patting the man’s shoulder goodnaturedly. “Funny.”

He enters the establishment, his feet moving automatically to the usual place where he usually sits with his lover and-

There he is. 

Slicked back black hair, startling blue eyes and wearing a nice beige sweatshirt underneath a simple grey blazer.

Damn, Stephen is an angel on Earth. 

Tony must have been staring too long because his lover looks up at him, his blue eyes gleaming in recognition and Tony moves closer to him, thinking that he must have been looking like a love-sick fool. 

"You still have glitter on your hair," Stephen says as a way of greeting to him, his nose wrinkling in mock disgust.

"You love the glitter, babe." Tony teases, leaning forward to kiss his boyfriend but a finger on his lips stops him from getting closer.

"No glitter on my outfit, thank you very much, Anthony," Stephen tells him, one side of his face pulled up into a teasing smirk. 

"Not even after I give you a pretty bouquet?" Tony grins, offering said item to Stephen, whose eyes twinkles in delight and the sight just makes Tony want to kiss him more. 

"Only one," Stephen agrees teasingly, taking the bouquet from Tony and leaning up slightly from his chair.

Tony laughs, kissing Stephen affectionately on the lips before sitting himself on the chair across from him. "Sorry if I'm a bit late, Stephen." He says and Stephen shakes his head. 

"I've just finished practising and arrived here just a few minutes ago," Stephen taps on the table idly. "How was your mini-concert?"

"Great, as usual," Tony reaches forward to hold his boyfriend's hand in his. "But that's it for now. I'm all free tomorrow." He winks, making Stephen laugh and squeezes his hand. 

"Good." Stephen's soft smile almost makes Tony melt like a lovestruck teenager but he thinks that his boyfriend wouldn't like his date to end with Tony being a figurative puddle on the floor. 

Flagging down the waiter, they order their meals and continue talking to each other lightly for a few minutes before their conversation drifts into a comfortable silence as Stephen takes a moment to drink from his glass of water while Tony busies himself by stealing glances at his partner. The food arrives after some time and they dig in, sharing some of their food for the other to taste. 

“You know,” Tony pipes up after he pays for their dinner and head to his motorcycle. “The host called me ‘Mister Strange’.”

Stephen, who is in the process of putting his own helmet on, looks at Tony curiously. “Then is it a good time to tell you that he also referred to me as ‘Mister Stark’?” He chuckles lightly before leaning forward to kiss Tony lightly on the lips. 

Tony accepts the kiss readily, reaching out to hold Stephen’s waist to pull him a bit closer. “You didn’t mind?” He asks quietly. 

“Why would I?” Stephen smiles softly, leaning forward to press his lips on Tony, making the rockstar hum. 

“It’s been five years.” Tony points out and Stephen winks at him, making his heart skip.

“And more to come,” Stephen reassures him, touching the tip of Tony’s nose with his finger playfully. “I am here to stay, Anthony.” 

Tony surges forward, kissing Stephen hard and pressing himself against him. Murmurs of ‘I love you’ can be heard as Tony scatters small pecks on Stephen’s face and he has the sudden desire to throw Stephen onto their bed to show how much he appreciates him and he intends to do just that. 

* * *

It is the next day and after the passionate night he and Stephen just had, Tony feels content. Granted, he did wake up to Stephen kissing his cheek and carrying a tray of their breakfast. 

“I feel pampered.” Tony teases his lover, earning a pinch on his side. 

“Just thought you need to rest,” Stephen answers cheekily. “After all, you were moaning so loud last night-” Tony quickly shoves a piece of bread into Stephen’s mouth to shut him up. 

“Okay, I get it,” Tony rolls his eyes, taking the cup of coffee and sipping from it. “Thanks, babe.” 

The rest of the day passes by with them just lounging around the house, doing some minor chores and then when everything is done, they resort to just relaxing on the couch with Stephen reading a book while Tony has his head on his lap, browsing the internet through his phone. 

It was well into the evening when Tony pockets his phone to look up at Stephen, still busy reading his book with his free hand idly stroking Tony’s hair. 

_Mister Strange_. Tony thinks to himself, the thought of him carrying Stephen's last name brings a high degree of giddiness in him that Tony couldn’t help grinning at the thought and that catches Stephen's attention.

"What is it?" He asks, his fingers stopping its idle stroking and Tony was about to answer him when he spots a series of pictures hanging on the wall behind Stephen, each documenting events of their lives in the past years. Then he sees a red and gold mask inside a glass box on a small display shelf just above the photos. 

"Anthony?" 

Tony looks back at Stephen before he sits up, turning to face him with a grin. "Dance with me."

"Pardon?" Stephen looks at him in surprise. 

Tony chuckles at the look on Stephen's face, moving off the couch to stand before him, offering his hand for Stephen to take. 

Stephen stares at him silently and Tony wiggles his fingers before Stephen sighs, shaking his head with an amused smile on his face before he closes his book, puts it on the side table beside him. He then reaches out to place his hand on top of Tony's and the rock star grins, pulling Stephen onto his feet.

Placing his hands on the other's hips as Stephen's arms loosely circle around his neck, Tony starts humming, leading Stephen into a slow dance in their living room. He sees Stephen closing his eyes and resting his forehead against his as Tony lets go of Stephen's hip to fish out his phone, pick out a song before pressing play. 

The introduction of a jazzy song comes alive and Stephen laughs, leaning away just for a moment before Tony once again leads him into a dance, this time into a waltz that has them moving around the living room. Tony finds himself spinning in place at one point and he dips Stephen in return. 

Soon enough, the song ends and they stand before each other, grinning as an instrumental song plays next. They sway slowly to the beat with Tony humming along to the music. 

He finds himself looking at Stephen.

_I'm very lucky,_ he thinks to himself as they lock eyes and Stephen smiles affectionately at him. 

This isn't how he actually wants to do this. He is already in the process of booking a flight to Italy, something that Stephen once joked if Tony does plan to propose to him. After the flight, he would ask him to go to the beach and watch the sunset. That would be the ideal moment for Tony to ask his hand for marriage. 

But now, instead of an expensive suit, Stephen is wearing a worn out and loose sweater and a pair of sweatpants. His hair all messed up from their impromptu dance session- and he's the most beautiful man Tony ever seen. 

"Marry me." He blurts out and the cellist's eyes widen. 

"What-"

Tony kneels down right then and there, his hand digging into his pocket to hold out a small box. The same box he has been carrying for a year. "I know that this isn't Italy, you did tell me to propose to you there but you're the love of my life and this moment seems so perfect…" He smiles. "Will you marry me, Stephen?"

“Dammit, Tony,” Stephen laughs, tearing up slightly as he kneels down as well. “You always like to get ahead of me." 

Confused about Stephen's reaction, Tony is about to open his mouth to ask but shuts up at the sight of Stephen pulling out his own little box from his pocket. He watches him flick the box open and in it, a silver ring. 

"Stephen-" Tony whispers in disbelief, his eyes widening as he looks at the man in front of him. "Goddammit." He chuckles, surging forward to hug him tight before kissing Stephen. 

"I wanted to be the first one to ask but you always beat me to it, Rockstar." Stephen says softly. "Of course I'll marry you. I told you I'm here to stay forever."

They laugh as they exchange rings, almost like a quiet marriage all on its own and while Tony admires their rings on each other's fingers, he thinks that he wouldn't want this any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> So this fic is probably unexpected to a lot of you but this is actually my birthday gift to my awesome friend and beta, [Luca](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxglove_Fiction/pseuds/Foxglove_Fiction)! Thank you for everything and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!💙💙💙
> 
> To all readers, I hope you enjoyed this short fic! Kudos and/or comments are always appreciated and I'll see you all soon! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! *devours cookies and milk*
> 
> -Rosa


End file.
